FAYETTEVILLE -- It will be No. 17 Arkansas against No. 16 Texas Tech on Saturday at American Airlines Center Arena in Dallas which is the home of the NBA Mavericks.
Arkansas (7-2) and Texas Tech (7-2) met in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season with the Red Raiders taking a comeback 85-83 win in overtime. John Calipari has purposely scheduled several games like this. Karter Knox talked about this game on Thursday morning and was asked if it had any special meaning considering the way last year's game ended?
"It’s a regular game for us," Knox said. "It’s a game that we have to get. Very big game for us. They did beat us last year, but it’s not a revenge game. I feel like this game we’re going to make a statement."
Knox said the team has obviously looked at the tape from last year's game.
"Well, first, we shoulda won that game, looking back at that tape now," Knox said. "But they’re two pretty good players. JT Toppin, Big 12 Player of the Year, and Christian Anderson, a big player for their team. We’ve been watching the tape and we’re prepared. We’ve been scouting for them and I feel like we’re going to come out with this win."
Knox talked about the ratio of watching last year's tape compared to this year's tape of Texas Tech.
"It’s not a lot," Knox said. "Last year, they had different players. This year they have new players and they run a lot of new sets and new plays and stuff. So we’re mainly focused on this year’s scout, this team’s scout. We’re not really paying attention to last year, but they do run the same plays last year and how we guarded it, how we defended it. We were up 16 at one point, so we obviously did a pretty good job on them. So that’s what we’ve been doing."
This is the second year in a row for Calipari to take his team to Dallas. They lost to Baylor 72-67 there last season.
"I love playing in Dallas," Knox said. "The fans, they came last year and it was crazy. It felt like we were back in Bud Walton. So we need that same energy when we play in Dallas."
Knox, who is projected as a second-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, has averaged 22.6 minutes per outing this season. He has averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.4 block per outing. Knox is shooting 56.3% from the field, 50% from 3 and 85.7% at the charity stripe. Knox talked about the need to improve his game.
"Just staying in the gym, trusting my work and going out there and playing hard and doing the little things," Knox said. "Just being active everywhere on the ball and just playing my game."
Knox was asked what Calipari has emphasized the most in practice this week?
"Focusing on defense," Knox said. "But you know, defense and rebounding. Texas Tech, they get a lot of offensive rebounds, try to play physical. But we’ve been doing straight rebounding drills like football drills. We’re ready for this team."
The Texas Tech game was one of Knox's best last season. He scored 20 points and pulled down six rebounds in the loss.
"Oh yeah," Knox said. "I most definitely do remember the positives. It was a very good moment for me. You know, good and bad moment. The good moment was, that was the best game I played all season. The bad moment is, that was the last game of my season. It was kind of crazy for me."
The Razorbacks will take a two-game winning streak to Dallas. One of the wins was an 89-80 victory over then No. 6 and undefeated Louisville. After losing to Duke and Michigan State Knox said the win over Louisville was much needed.
"It was definitely a needed boost," Knox said. "Coming off that loss to Duke, that was a great game that we should have had. But Louisville, they came to us, we hit them in the mouth first, they came back, but we just held ground and got the win. Most important, the fans are going crazy."
Knox also talked about what the newcomers on this year's team had to say about Texas Tech.
"The first reaction was, we should have won that game," Knox said. "You know, we were up 16, you should have won that game. That was their first reaction. But, I said, ‘Look, we won that game, we would have won the national championship. But I told them, they watched Christian Anderson. Darius (Acuff Jr.) that's his matchup. And Christian Anderson, very skilled, he's alright, but I feel like Darius is ready for that matchup. Meleek Thomas and Isaiah Sealy, they’re all ready for that matchup already."
The game will tip at 11 a.m. and be televised on ESPN2.
